My Weekend in Review

{tank: gap  |  shorts: jcp (similar)  |  sandals, necklace: f21  |  sunnies: harmon}



Hi all!  I hope you had a great holiday weekend filled with lots of whatever it is that you love best.
My weekend was so fun that I found myself wishing I had an iPhone so I could be like all you cool kids who post instagram collages to portray little snippets of your life.  But seeing as how I'm still rocking my relic of a non-smart phone (circa 2005), I have no choice but to go old-school and portray my weekend with word blurbs instead.

• Going to a biker bar on a whim and getting along with everyone so well that we wound up staying for 5 hours.  Homemade cookies were included.  Apparently biker chicks are as bad ass in the kitchen as they are on the road.
• Having a lovely rooftop BBQ with our friends.  Grilled eggplant, veggie dogs, champagne, and great conversation were on the menu.  Oh, and making my French friends laugh with my attempts to speak their language.  There's nothing like trying to figure out how to say "cow bell" in another language to ensure raucous laughter.
• Spending an afternoon at this park in NYC with my hunny bunny, followed by lunch at a diner and a pretty subway ride back.  Yes, that last part sounded like an oxymoron since the subway is mostly underground.  But the 7 train isn't.  And it's a beautiful ride.
• Brunch at a cafe that included iced coffee & chocolate croissants.  Our friends are such regulars that the owner let us in even though it was closed to the public.  VIP in the house.

I'm linking up here today.

Highlights & Lowlights #8

{chambray: old navy (almost identical)  //  v neck  //  shorts  //  sandals: pacsun (similar)  //  watch} 

Lowlights:

• Making myself a cup of decaf at 8:30pm, then realizing that wasn't actually decaf at all, but a fully caffeinated mug of coffee I just drank.  Falling asleep was no easy task, let me tell you.  The saddest part is that this is not the first time I've given myself accidental insomnia by way of cafe au lait.
• That awkward moment after I checked out at the one and only register in a store I'd never been to, then turned around to realize that there were about 6 registers behind me and I had used the customer service line.  No wonder the cashier asked me if I was returning...So glad I didn't blurt out the stupid comment that was on the tip of my tongue, "Why; do you get a lot of returns here?"  I'm sure the response would have included a quizzical look from the cashier, most likely followed by a very slow and deliberate, "Yeeees."
• Going for a run during a downpour.  In the woods.  Right after showering.

Highlights:

• Having brinner (breakfast for dinner) last night.  This is usually our fallback plan when I don't have time to (or don't feel like) cooking.  It doesn't happen often, but when it does, oh, it's delicious.
• Holiday weekend!  Hunny bunny's & mine will be occupied with meeting friends at an outdoor beer garden, seeing a Mets game, and maybe even a rooftop bbq.  Oh, and lots of chillaxing, which - let's face it - is simply the best kind of relaxing there is.
• Planning our vacation to St. Thomas.  Just reading Fodor's Caribbean guide and thinking about snorkeling in clear waters, lounging on the beach, and eating tons of local fruit already has me in an island state of mind.  I can almost feel the sunburn I'm bound to get on the first day...

Psst - I'm linking up here today.

A Wrinkle in Time

{top  //  shorts  //  scarf: diy  //  sandals: delias (similar)  //  watch}

I love this shirt, but it just might be the highest maintenance article of clothing I've ever owned.  It wrinkles at the drop of a hat, and sometimes even if I just look at it wrong.  The frequency with which it must be ironed requires a Cinderella-like devotion, only I don't get the added benefit of a team of bird & mouse seamstresses while I toil away, pressing out the creases.

 Normally I'd throw my hands up in the air and pledge never to wear a top that demands so much of my attention.

But I've already got the iron heating up, and this will be the second time I flatten out those folds this week.

 What can I say - I'm a sucker for a prima donna with a scalloped edge.

I'm linking up with these gals today.

Comfort Defined

{top: joyce leslie  //  target jeans  //  target shoes (similar)  //  target scarf (similar)  //  watch: swatch  //  earrings: claire's}

This is what I wore to my friend's going away party at a bar last week.  I knew I wanted to look like I made an effort, but I also knew that I'd be standing a lot, and quite possibly stuffing my face.  That ruled out high heels and pretty much any item of clothing that skimmed too close to my body.

So I settled on this extraordinarily comfortable & flowy sweater top, stylishly baggy boyfriend jeans, and what my hunny bunny lovingly refers to as my grandma shoes (totally comfy and totally sensible).

When I got compliments on how nice I looked, my feet weren't tired after standing all night, and my clothes didn't even feel snug after dinner, I knew I had hit the coveted clothing trifecta.

Hells. Yeah.

Come see where I'm linking up!

Highlights & Lowlights #7

{tee: target (similar)  //  skirt: h&m  //  sandals: o'neill (similar)  //  necklace: gift  //  earrings: bahamas (made from coconuts!)}

Lowlights:

• I sat down at a restaurant and as the hostess handed me my menu, she called me ma'am.  Ma'am!  Right to my face.  The nerve.
• Attending a going away party for a friend and then, due to some confusion, not getting a chance to say goodbye to her.  My sentiments sent over facebook just don't stand up to a good, real life goodbye.
• Waking up in the middle of the night to what sounded like something be dragged across the attic.  As a borderline insane animal lover, I don't want to call an exterminator.  I may just have to deal with those mysterious sounds from above...
• Going out to dinner with my neighbor and having him tell me, rather emphatically, that he thinks gay marriage is "just ridiculous."  I haven't really been able to look at him the same way since. 

Highlights:

• Sharing some good conversation and lots of laughs with a bunch of friends I haven't seen in a while.  I love my friends.
• Getting to meet a retired secret service agent who was there during Reagan's attempted assassination.  Plus, he was also inside the World Trade Center when it was bombed in 1993.  The man lived through an explosion. (!!)  It was an intriguing conversation to say the least.
• This amazingly warm & sunny weather.  Driving with the sunroof open and David Guetta pumping through the speakers - that's how I roll.
• Having my hunny bunny nap on the couch next to me while I type...when we really should be grocery shopping and taking outfit photos.  But it's just so much sweeter this way.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

{top: target  //  skirt: diy from thrifted, cute option 1, 2  //  sandals: pacsun, similar  //  belt  //  earrings: gift, similar  //  watch  //  bracelets: diy, f21}

I can't seem to get enough of stripes & florals lately.  This is the second time in two weeks.
Sure, it may be the white bread of pattern mixing; sort of an effortless no-brainer, but its appeal is undeniable nonetheless.
At least to me it is.  And it seemed to work for the dogs of some friends I visited while wearing this, too, because they were all over me.  Excited to see me?
Nah, they just live for florals and stripes. 

Check out where I'm linking up today here.

No Pain, No Gain

{dress: target, cute alternative  //  shoes: target, similar  //  cardi  //  belt  //  necklace: delias  //  earrings: handmade}

Have your muscles ever been so sore that the pain actually wakes you up in the middle of the night?

Well, I got to experience this oh-so-lovely of phenomenons last night.

There is no way to describe it other than that it feels as if my muscles are literally broken (which I guess they actually are; go figure).

Maybe popping in a P90X dvd after ignoring it for over a year and expecting to keep up with the amount of reps I was able to do when I was on the program might have been a little optimistic.

Either way, I can hardly straighten my right arm.  And it's times like these I'm glad to be a lefty.
(The times when I'm trying to use normal scissors or a non-wireless mouse - not so much).

And, oh yes, my outfit.  It's just something I threw on to go for a picnic at a nearby lake.
But really, I just wanted to give you something to look at while I complain about how I can't recover from a workout like I used to.

Today I'm linking up here.

Highlights & Lowlights #6

{sweater, boots (similar): old navy  //  shorts}

Lowlights:

(This week there's really just one that takes the cake).

• Having a totally embarrassing moment in front of hunny bunny.  After parking at a store, I glanced out the window and noticed that we were slowly rolling backwards.  Even though I saw him put the car in park, put the hand brake on, and shut the car off, I yelled at him to stop.  It was like every nightmare I'd ever had involving a car come to life...for about 3 seconds until I realized that the SUV parked next to us had simply started driving forward and we hadn't moved at all.  Oh, what my poor boyfriend must have thought of this crazed girl sitting in the car next to him.  I must have sounded insane.

Highlights:

• Being able to do nothing but laugh at that embarrassing story now.  I mean, really Kym.  I am ridiculous.
• Discovering the wonderful deliciousness of mustard added to my grilled cheese sandwich.
• Running out of creamer and improvising by adding a little almond milk and almond extract to my morning coffee - yummy!
• Hunny bunny shaved himself a fu man chu as a belated birthday gift to me, and I just can't get enough of it!  Yep, I have strange taste in facial hair.  (Next up, I'm going for mutton chops).   Sexy.

I'm linking up today.

Sweater Weather

{sweater: old navy  //  chambray button up  //  jeans  //  boots: payless, similar  //  bracelets: f21, diy  //  necklace: gramma's, similar}

I wore this over the weekend to go on a bar hopping date with hunny bunny.  It was a little chilly and I knew I'd need something warm, comfortable, and preferably slightly expandable since beer & bar fare tend to fill my stomach up pretty quickly.  Enter these wonderfully stretchy jeggings, cozy chambray & sweater combo, and nice, flat boots perfect for maneuvering from bar to bar.

On the way to our date, we stumbled onto this lovely road in our town that I had never seen before.  It had all of one house for about a mile in either direction, which in notoriously over-populated North NJ is pretty darn rare.

I'm thinking lots of bike rides up and down this quaint little road.  Hopefully the people living in that house won't mind seeing me ride by with my hands in the air, yelling "wheeeee!!!" several times a week.

Join me in a linky party.

Ha, Ha.....ha

{jacket: h&m  //  top, scarf: old navy  //  shorts  //  boots  //  sunnies: harmon}

I could hardly stop laughing during this photo shoot.  I don't remember exactly why, but I know my boyfriend was to blame.
I'm pretty sure he was taking advantage of my reaction to the camera's sounds.  A while back he realized that if he pushes the button halfway down, the camera makes a little beep which signals that a photo is about to be taken, and no matter what I'm doing (scratching an itch, rubbing my face, directing traffic, delivering a baby*) as soon as I hear that beep I strike a pose.
So he waits until I'm doing something, then makes the camera beep, sees me fly into position....then just starts laughing.  Doesn't even take the picture.
I guess a style blogger's boyfriend has to entertain himself somehow...

*I may be exaggerating a tad.  Let's hope I never have to deliver a baby to find out.

Linking up here today.